Mobile bale collector

ABSTRACT

A mobile bale collector having a first conveyor moves bales in a conveyance plane opposite to the direction of travel of the collector. The collector forms rows of bales in a direction at right angles to the direction thereof. The mobile bale collector can include a second conveyor which moves the bales opposite to the direction of travel of the collector.

The invention relates to a mobile bale collector with conveyor meansarranged for receiving from a press outlet of a bale press a successionof bales, for conveying the bales such as to form a row of apredetermined number of bales, the row extending at right angles to thedirection of travel of the collector, and for discharging this row ofbales off the conveyor means in a direction opposite to the direction oftravel upon completion of the row, and with detection means fordetecting the completion of a row, the detection means being connectedto discharge inhibiting means for inhibiting discharge of a row untilthe row is completed, and in which the conveyor means comprises balesupporting rollers.

A mobile bale collector of this type is disclosed by GB-A-1.410.170.With this prior art collector the conveyor means consists of a rollerbed of a number of rollers forming a row of rollers each extending inparallel to the direction of travel of the collector, a push mechanismwhich pushes a bale dropped on the roller bed by a baler in a directiontransverse to the direction of travel to an end of the roller bed, andfurther means which discharges a completed row of bales off the rollerbed.

A disadvantage of the prior art collector is that it is very complex andtherefore relatively expensive and susceptible to malfunction. Inaddition, because of in particular the push mechanism, the width of thecollector transverse to the direction of travel is rather great, whichmakes the collector more difficult to maneuver and to park in a barn.Further, since the push mechanism is such that it does not operate uponcompletion of a row of bales the last bale of the row will not be pushedagainst the preceding bale and therefore the rows of bales thus obtainedare not compact as is desired. Still further, since the bales receivedon the roller bed are conveyed firstly in a direction transverse to thedirection of travel this offers hardly an opportunity to spacesuccessive bales further apart in order to have no interference betweena rear end of a bale and the front end of a succeeding bale which coulddisturb the operation of the collector severely.

The object of the invention is to solve the disadvantages of the mobilebale collector of the type mentioned in the introduction hereinbefore.

According to the invention this object is obtained by that the rollersextend at right angles to the direction of travel, the rollers are screwconveyors and are rotatably driven, the direction of the screw threadand the direction of rotation of the rollers being such that balessupported on the rollers are urged opposite and transverse to thedirection of travel the inhibiting means comprise a blocking meansbehind a row to be formed as seen in the direction of travel and,connected to the blocking means, control means which, upon completion ofa row signalled by the detection means remove the blocking means out ofits position blocking the completed row, the collector furthercomprising a guide element which extends parallel to the direction oftravel at a place to guide a first received bale of a completed row.This provides a bale collector having a rather simple and therefore lesscostly construction, which is yet able to provide dense rows of bales ofwhich end parts are aligned positively by urging them against theblocking means.

Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from theexplanation which follows for two embodiments of the mobile balecollection according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a top view of a first embodiment of the bale collectoraccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the bale collector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows on a larger scale a part of the blocking means shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an electrical diagram for the control of a lifting elementof the blocking means;

FIGS. 5a and 5b show two phases of the operation of the collector ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a top view of a second embodiment of the bale collectoraccording to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the bale collector of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows an electrical diagram for the control of two liftingelements of the bale collector of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d show four phases of operation of the balecollector of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The first embodiment of the bale collector according to the inventionshown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a horizontal frame 1 on a wheel base 2,which is not shown in FIG. 1. At one side of the frame 1, the frame 1 iscoupled by means of a coupling pin 3 behind the press outlet 4 of a balepress which is not shown in further detail. The bale collector is pulledalong by the press in the direction of the arrow 5.

The frame 1 has two frame parts 6 and 7 running parallel to thedirection of travel 5. A number of smooth rollers 8, 9, 10 and 11 andthreaded rollers 12, 13 and 14, running at right angles to the directionof travel 5, are fitted between the frame parts 6 and 7. The screwthreads of the rollers 12, 13 and 14 all run in the same direction andextend from the frame part 6 up to a distance from the frame part 7which is essentially equal to the width of the press channel 4. A roller17 with a screw thread running in the same direction as the screw threadof the rollers 12, 13 and 14 is fitted a distance above the rollers 8 to14, upstream of said rollers between two rotatable arms 15 and 16. Theroller 17 is rotatable about a horizontal axis 18 at a distance thereofwhich coincides with the axis of the roller 11, from a blocking positionshown in FIG. 2, in which the roller 17 retains bales conveyed out ofthe press channel 4, to a clear position obtained by turning in thedirection of the arrow 19, in which bales present on the rollers 8 to 14are conveyed over the roller 17 onto the ground 20.

The rollers 8 to 14 and 17 are rotatable in bearings fixed on the frameparts 6 and 7 and at the frame part 7 chain wheels, over which drivechains 22, 23, 24 are guided, are fitted on a shaft of a motor 21. Themotor 21 can be any suitable motor, but is preferably a hydraulic motorwhich is fed in series with a volume regulator by the hydraulic systemof the bale press or of a vehicle pulling the bale press. The motor 21is set in such a way by means of, for example, the volume regulator thatthe peripheral speed of the rollers 8 to 14 and 17 is higher than thespeed of travel of the bale collector. The gear wheels and chains 22, 23and 24 are not shown in FIG. 2.

A horizontal guide element 25 is fitted at the ends of the rollers 8 to14 at the frame part 7, for guiding a bale against it in a directionopposite to the direction of travel 5.

FIG. 3 shows on a larger scale the blocking means, not shown in FIG. 1,for the blocking roller 17 of the bale collector of FIG. 2, whichcomprise the blocking roller 17 not shown in FIG. 3.

An end of another arm 27 is connected to the arm 15 in such a way thatit can rotate about a horizontal axis 26. At the upstream side of theroller 11 the other end of the arm 27 is fixed to yet another arm 29 sothat it can rotate about a horizontal axis 28. Downstream of the axis 28the arm 29 is fixed to a support 31 of the frame 1 in such a way that itis rotatable about a horizontal axis 30. Fitted to the arm 29, upstreamof the axis 28, is a tension spring 32, whose other end (not shown) isfixed further upstream to the frame 1. The spring 32 is omitted in FIG.2, for the sake of clarity. In the blocking position of the rollershown, the arms 15, 27 and 29 are pulled by the spring 32 into thepositions shown, in which the axis 28 is at a level below that of theaxis 30 and the axis 26 is at a level above that of the axis 30. Alifting element 33, which can be an electromagnet, with a verticallydisplaceable core 34, is fixed on the frame 1 at such a point that whenthe lifting element 33 is activated the core 34 moves the axis 28through a dead centre above the axis 30, which enables the arm 15 toturn in the direction of the arrow 19 when a force exerted on the roller17 by the bales is greater than the opposite tensile force of the spring32. The tensile force of the spring 32 is so great that when no opposingforce is exerted on the roller 17 the arm 15 is turned as far aspossible in a direction opposite to the direction 19.

Fitted at two places, which will be explained below, are two electricswitches 35 and 36 which, as shown in FIG. 4, are connected electricallyto each other in series and in series to an electromagnetic liftingelement 33 and an electrical power supply.

The way in which the bale collector shown in FIG. 1 works is explainedbelow with reference to FIGS. 5a and 5b, which show two phases of theoperation.

Bales coming from the press channel 4 of the bale press are conveyed bythe rollers 8 to 14 against the roller 17. The bales are then conveyedin succession against the guide element 25 at right angles to thedirection of travel 5 by the roller 17, and during conveyance of thebales to the roller 17 to some extent by the rollers 12, 13 and 14, thusforming a row of bales, in the example shown three bales. When the rowof bales is assembled, the switches 35 and 36 are pressed by the balesresting on said switches, which actuates the lifting element 33. Sincethe force exerted through the action of rollers 8 to 14 by the row ofbales on the roller 17 is greater than the tensile force of the spring32, the arm 15 will turn in the direction of the arrow 19 out of theblocking position into the clear position in order to allow the row ofbales through, as shown in FIG. 5b.

It is preferable to fit on the roller 8 opposite the press channel 4 oneor more projections which can be strips 37 running in the direction ofthe length of the roller 8, and which slightly accelerate a bale comingout of the press channel 4, which produces a greater distance from afollowing bale, as a result of which more tine is obtained for movingthe accelerated bale in the crosswise direction, and as a result ofwhich the processing speed of the bale press and that of the balecollector can be greater than in an embodiment without one or morestrips 37.

The use of screw thread on the rollers 12, 13 and 14 is to ensure thatthe bales of a row do not run askew during their transverse movement,and that the bales are placed in a row close against each other and aredeposited in dense rows on the ground. In order to reduce the frictionwhich occurs during the conveyance of a row of bales off the rollers,the end parts of the rollers 12, 13 and 14 at the frame part 7 have asmooth periphery over a distance which is essentially equal to the widthof the press channel 4.

A second embodiment of the bale collector according to the invention isexplained below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9, said embodiment havingan additional part downstream compared with the first embodiment, forcollecting thereon one or more rows of bales and for discharging fromthis part a predetermined number of rows of bales collected on thecollector.

In FIGS. 6 to 9 parts having the same function as that of parts of thefirst embodiment explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 are indicatedby the same reference numbers with the addition of an apostrophe.

The part of the second embodiment present upstream of an including theblocking roller 17', which in the embodiment of FIG. 6 is a firstblocking roller, works in the same way as the first embodiment, the onlydifference being that on passing the roller 17' a row of bales isconveyed onto three smooth rollers 38, 39 and 40 and along a guideelement 25" instead of being placed on the ground. The rollers 38, 39and 40 are rotatable about horizontal axes and each have at theirrespective ends at the frame part 7' a chain wheel about which the chain23' is guided in such a way that the rollers 38, 39 and 40 convey a balein the opposite direction to the direction of travel 5.

The conveyance of bales over the rollers 38, 39 and 40 is limited by ahorizontal blocking element 41 which is fitted above the level of therollers 38, 39 and 40, and which can be a roller, bar or pipe whose endsare fixed to arms 15" and 16", which work in the same way as the arms15, 16 and 15', 16'. The arm 15' and the arm 15" are each connected tolifting and retracting means of the same type as the means 26 to 34shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 8, a series circuit is connectedparallel to the lifting element 33' for the arm 15' for a switch 42which is fitted in the added part of the bale collector, and a liftingelement 33" for the arm 15".

The way in which the bale collector shown in FIG. 6 works is explainedbelow with reference to FIGS. 9a to 9d, which show four phases of theoperation.

FIGS. 9a and 9b correspond to the situations shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b.In the situation of FIG. 9b a row of bales collected against theblocking roller 17' is, however, not placed on the ground, but isconveyed onto an additional part of the collector by the rollers 38, 39and 40.

The situation of FIG. 9c corresponds to the situation of FIG. 9a, but inthe situation of FIG. 9c a row of bales has already collected againstthe blocking element 41.

When a new row of bales has formed against the blocking roller 17', thisrow will pass the blocking roller 17' and be conveyed against the rowwhich is already resting against the blocking element 41, as a result ofwhich all switches 35', 36' and 42 are pressed by the bales and arethereby closed, which means that the lifting element 33" is actuated andthe blocking element 41 is turned in the direction of the arrow 19" toallow through the two rows of bales, which are then deposited on theground 20.

It will be clear that the part of the bale collector following theblocking roller 17' can have greater dimensions and correspondingly morerollers of the type like rollers 38 to 40 for collection thereon of morerows of bales.

It is also possible within the scope of the invention to deposit on theground only the rows of bales which have collected on the added partdownstream of the blocking roller 17', in which case during thisdeposition the blocking roller 17' remains up in its high position and anew row of bales is collected against it.

It is also possible within the scope of the invention to drive therollers in a different manner, for example by means of a coupling to thewheels of the wheel base 2, and the switches and lifting elements can bepneumatic or hydraulic elements.

I claim:
 1. A mobile bale collector comprising:(a) conveyor means forreceiving a succession of bales, the conveyor means forming a row of apredetermined number of bales, the row extending at right angles to thedirection of travel of the collector, the conveyor means discharging therow of bales off the conveyor means in a direction opposite to thedirection of travel of the collector upon completion of the row; (b)detection means for detecting the completion of a row; (c) dischargeinhibiting means for inhibiting discharge of a row until the row iscompleted, the detection means being operatively connected to thedischarge inhibiting means, and wherein the conveyor means comprisesco-planar bale supporting rollers, extending at right angles to thedirection of travel of the collector, the rollers being screw conveyorswhich are rotatably driven, the direction of the screw thread and thedirection of rotation of the rollers being such that bales supported onthe rollers are urged in a first direction opposite to the direction oftravel of the collector and, then, in a second direction, transverselyto the direction of travel of the collector, and further wherein theinhibiting means comprises a blocking means behind a row to be formed asseen in the direction of travel and control means which, connected tothe blocking means, such that upon completion of a row signalled by thedetection means, the control means removes the blocking means out of itsposition blocking the completed row, the collector further comprising aguide element, which extends parallel to the direction of travel of thecollector at a place to guide a first received bale of a completed row.2. The mobile bale collector according to claim 1, wherein the surfacesof the rollers, which support the bale received as first bale of acompleted row, are devoid of screw thread over a length substantiallycorresponding to the length over which the roller is covered by thebale.
 3. The mobile bale collector according to claim 1 wherein theconveyor means receives bales from a press outlet, the conveyor meansfurther comprises a substantially non-splined front end roller, whichextends near the press outlet parallel to the co-planar bale supportingrollers, the front end roller being rotatably driven in the samedirection as the co-planar bale supporting rollers and which has atleast one projection in the region of the press outlet to accelerate abale supported thereon.
 4. The mobile bale collector according to claim3, wherein the at least one projection is a strip which extendssubstantially in the lengthwise direction of the roller.
 5. A mobilebale collector comprising:(a) conveyor means arranged for receiving froma press outlet of a bale press a succession of bales, the conveyor meansforming a row of a predetermined number of bales, the row extending atright angles to the direction of travel of the collector, the conveyormeans discharging the row of bales off the conveyor means in a directionopposite to the direction of travel of the collector upon completion ofthe row; (b) detection means for detecting the completion of a row; (c)discharge inhibiting means for inhibiting discharge of a row until therow is completed, the discharge means being operatively connected to thedetection means, and wherein the conveyor means comprises co-planar balesupporting rollers, extending at right angles to the direction of travelof the collector, the rollers being screw conveyors and being rotatablydriven, the direction of the screw thread and the direction of rotationof the rollers being such that bales supported on the rollers are urgedin a first direction opposite to the direction of travel of thecollector and, then, in a second direction, transversely to thedirection of travel of the collector, and further wherein the inhibitingmeans comprises a blocking means behind a row to be formed as seen inthe direction of travel, and control means connected to the blockingmeans, which, upon completion of a row signalled by the detection means,removes the blocking means out of its position blocking the completedrow, the collector further comprising a guide element, which extendsparallel to the direction of travel of the collector at a place to guidea first received bale of a completed row, and still further wherein theblocking means comprises a roller which is a rotatably driven screwconveyor which extends at right angles to the direction of travel of thecollector, the direction of the thread and the direction of rotationbeing such that the blocking roller urges bales, held against it, in adirection transverse to the direction in which the supporting rollersurge the bales.
 6. The mobile bale collector according to claim 1 havingfurther a rear part, seen in the direction of travel, having furtherconveyance means for receiving thereon at least one row of balesdischarged from the collector part in front of the rear part and havingfurther inhibiting means at the rear end of said rear part for blockingrows of bales successively collected on the rear part until a group of apredetermined number of rows is completed on both parts, wherein thefurther conveyance means comprises a number of rollers parallel to thebale supporting rollers of the front part and rotatably driven in adirection to urge the bales opposite to the direction of travel, and thefurther inhibiting means comprises a blocking means in front of a groupto be formed and, connected to the blocking means further control meanswhich, upon completion of a group signalled by further detection means,removes the blocking means out of its position blocking the completedgroup to discharge from both parts.
 7. The mobile bale collectoraccording to claim 1, wherein any of the control means comprises a levermechanism hingedly connected to the associated blocking means and havingan appropriate control device which when signalled by the associateddetection means takes the mechanism through a dead centre thereof, sothat the blocking means is removed out of its position blocking thebales urged against it, and further comprising restoring means connectedto the blocking means for returning the blocking means to its idleposition after discharge of any row urged against it.
 8. The mobile balecollector according to claim 7, wherein the restoring means are springs.